Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

Competitive defence markets

In your article ‘Commission to open up the EU’s defence market’ (1-7 February) you mention the opening of the EU defence market to more competition and the European Commission’s initiative in this respect. To give a complete picture of defence procurement in Europe, the already existing European Handbook for Defence Procurement (EHDP) should be mentioned. It was developed by defence experts from NATO, national defence ministries and the defence industry under the umbrella of the European Committee for Standardization, CEN. This handbook lists existing national standards, European standards as well as NATO or US standards and recommends a preferred standard for the use in defence procurement. This enables, for example, several European departments of defence to buy equipment according to the same standards and hence increases competition within the defence industry. This is a major step in reducing trade barriers in the European defence market.